Interesting Take On Law, "Public" rights, and Basketball :D

[dcsang]

I'm going to do my best Bill Mattock impersonation here. . .

Here's a story which, while not exactly controversial or thrilling, does give you an idea of what is/is not allowed by both a "photographer" and, apparently, a 7 foot tall NBA centre

Full Story here:
http://bit.ly/8KocQz

Abridged version: Young kids in a nightclub, having fun taking photos with their cellphones, accidentally (or unwittingly) capture NBA player in an image or two. NBA player walks over (or his "security" walks over) and grab the cell phone and delete the photos.

From the story:

Canadian privacy laws allow anyone to take photos of anyone in a public place, regardless of what they're doing, and publish them.

Taking photos in a private venue, such as a club, requires advance permission from those in charge, but it's not illegal to just go ahead and shoot.

But the case of private photos being deleted from a camera phone is vague; Toronto police say it is unlikely charges would be laid for such an incident, since no one was hurt and nothing tangible was stolen.

I wonder what would happen if it was a film or any other camera and this occurred?

Curious,
Dave

 

[wgerrard]

Abridged version: Young kids in a nightclub, having fun taking photos with their cellphones, accidentally (or unwittingly) capture NBA player in an image or two. NBA player walks over (or his "security" walks over) and grab the cell phone and delete the photos.

From the story:


I wonder what would happen if it was a film or any other camera and this occurred?

If it was film, the guy would likely have ripped it out of the camera.

A law preventing unauthorized photos in a private club doesn't necessarily mean the person who was photographed has the right to seize the camera and eliminate the images.

 

[Pherdinand]

It's not a matter of legal or not. It's just the arrogance of the Famous People.

 

[jtzordon]

Just do what the students I teach do when I catch them using their cell phones: tuck it away somewhere quickly before it can be grabbed. For them to retrieve it they would have to forcibly remove it from you. Then you have grounds for assault, I presume.